


NANOSURGE

by UnadulteratedFanfiction



Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21599935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnadulteratedFanfiction/pseuds/UnadulteratedFanfiction
Summary: A new Fanfiction series, leading up to the events surrounding the Nanosurge. Also, featuring Elyise and several OC character villains.
Relationships: Ortega/Sidestep (Fallen Hero)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Sugar Vice

“Why are we here again?”

“Because… we have to be.” Elyise answers plainly. 

“And… how long do we *have* to be here in this parking lot?” It’s not that you lack patience… But you’re honestly very hungry.  
There is the “LDL Records” building next to you, an office building next to it, and a Pizzeria on the corner opposite to you. People are having dinner enjoying the comfortable weather on the tables outside.

“Stop bugging me, you know I don’t know how it works either”

“Can’t we wait in San Benito’s?” You point at the pizzeria. “I’m starving!” you complain.

“No!” she insists in a hushed voice. “We have to be here. Right here. It doesn’t work if we’re not here. If we go there, then we’ll be changing things and…”

“What If It’s my treat? I’ll pay” You offer.

“Gods, it’s not about money!”

“But I’m hungry!!!!”

“Just how old do you say you a… ”

And then, all the lights go down. 

And half the windows at the LDL records buildings explode in flames. The fire is enough to illuminate the whole street.

Lights come back up, and you notice a figure walking out of the building, followed by a pair of modded thugs.

A plump figure wearing a strange outfit with red and white stripes, a striped squirt and high shoes. White makeup over their face. He’s approaching the people eating at San Benito’s outside tables with a smile full of completely white teeth.

“Good evening ladies and Gentleman” he greets them all as they scream and tried to escape.“I will be your entertainment tonight”

Elyise and you leave your hiding place and make a run to try and get behind the villain. She doesn’t need much telepath training to sense the threat just as well.  
No need to speak while you sneak in behind the parked cars and hurriedly cross the street.  
She’s a psychic, and a minor telepath. You have your own line of communication. Of course, it’s not perfect. Although older than you, she’s never received any proper training and thus her ability never flourished, being relegated to the role of a mere empath.  
Until she met you that is. Not that you’d have agreed to help her if she was more powerful… then she’d be a threat. As it is, she can’t find any of your secrets even if she wanted to, and you’re more than happy to help her understand her powers.

“First of all, I’ll perform a trick… Watch!” he raises his hands.

Fuck. You hurriedly pass on what the villain’s mind is telling you to Elyise. She nods, and stands up firm, focusing her powers. She’s quite strong when using her Psychokinesis. And her precognition works wonders, except it never shows what she wants to see.

The figure turns his hands through the crowd, and a crystal-like formation erupts from his arm flying straight into the civilian. Very sharp, glass-like crystals.

“A gift from the Candymaster!” he laughs.

But Elyise is faster. The couple that was about to be impaled is projected backward, dodging the crystals narrowly.

The villain, Candymaster looks perplexed. And then he notices You and Elyise in her purple costume.

“Well that was FAst!” he smiles, delighted. “I didn’t expect for a hero to answer that fast. And now I have two! You’re going to make little ‘ol me blush!” Then he pouts “Too bad you’re a tad bit too late right? That whole building on fire… oh well… Let’s get to it… Good thing I came prepared”

He motions to the Thugs, who charge at you. You duck and hit the one charging at you in the stomach, then kick his teeth off as he tries to regain his breath. Elyise uses her powers to lift the other one in the air. You shoot at him with your energy gun, stunning him.

As you turn back to Candymaster, he is sending some sort of candy-shaped drone flying above.

“Ohh you two are good! This will be so much fun.”

You aren’t sure what the drone is supposed to do, and the thoughts coming from CandyMaster are a bit too random for you to correctly read.

Music. The drone is playing a song. And an old song.

And the CandyMaster starts dancing… Elyise and you look at each other and then charge at him. No point making sense of this lunatic, you agree.

That was probably a mistake.

——- 15 seconds later ——–

“To the left! Left!” you yell at Elyise. She manages to leap to the left just in time, as another crystal emerges from the ground, destroying the pavement and nearly impaling her.

“Hahahahhahahaa” Candymaster laughs sounds like a little child and it’s just freaking you out. “This is soo good!!! PLEASE KEEP IT UP!!” He adds in a much more grave voice. He lowers his hand, and more crystal shards form, this time falling from the sky.

Even anticipating his movements, it’s hard to dodge sharp stuff on free fall. You manage to get out with a mere cut on the leg and consider yourself lucky.

“I’ve been told he can’t be sold/ He’s not vicious or malicious” the drone’s song keeps going

“JUST DEE-LOVELY! AND DELICIOUS!” Candymaster yells hysterically exploding in laughter as he follows the track. He’s still dancing, raising and lowering his arms, commanding crystal shards to erupt from every direction. That baby-like laughter is going to haunt your nightmares. This is hell.

You dodge as shards appear next to your feet. Fuck. You haven’t even been able to get close to him yet.

A large red metal mailbox flyes straight onto the Candymaster, and is stopped as another shard appears. Elyise is doing her best too.

“Oh, nice! You almost get me! ahahahaha!” Ohhhh how you fucking loathe him. You pull out your energy gun and start shooting, but he just places shards in between you, and soon enough you’re the one running for your life instead.

“Aww… I love it! You are making this a TON of fun Sidestep thank you! I would totally give you a hug! Come closer for your hug! Oh… no? Well, then let’s try something different… Looky here Sidestep baby!” he calls. Irritating you even more.

As you face him again, you notice he’s holding a kid by his arm. The poor fellow is terrified as the CandyMaster runs his fingers through his cheek.

“New game! You give up, surrender, and I let him go… Or else.. you know.. I stuff him with candy! ha!!! Yeah… I think that’s fair enough!.” He addresses the terrified crowd around him. “What? Don’t be mad at me! I know Y'all wanted a twist, didn’t ya?”

You and Elyise have a split-second talk with your minds. the decision is clear. CandyMaster is too unpredictable but you can both agree he will kill the kid if you do nothing.

Fuck. You step forward.

“I surrender, Candymaster!” you say walking with your hands up. With your abilities, you can probably dodge his next attack. If you’re lucky. And then Elyise can give you some support and try to get the kid to safety…“Let him go!”

“Oooh .. Don’t ya love heroes! always doing stupid stuff like this! You know I’ve always been a fan! I’m going to have a bite of you once you’re covered in delicious fondant!” The mental image sends shivers down your spine. Yeeesh. He points a palm at you and…

You hear a shot … and the drone explodes, music going silent.

“WHO DID THAT?” he asks looking around?“

“I did it.. What are you going to do about it you clown punk?” Steel asks standing behind him

“Wha…?” Candymaster starts to say as he turns but never ends the sentence. Steel’s fist breaks his jaw in a single movement. You blink and rub your eyes… IT literally broke his jaw. There are pieces falling off. What in the…

“THAT … WASN’T… NICE!” A harsh voice cames out of the CandyMaster as he holds his broken and cracked face with his left hand. Then he extends his right hand and sends a whirlwind of crystal spikes at Steel, who deflects them with a kevlar riot shield extending from his armored arm.

“What the hell… ?” Elyise can’t help asking in disbelief as some pieces of the Candymasters jaw bounce all the way to her boot. “Is this guy for real? Am I dreaming?”

No time to ponder on that. You take the chance to snatch the kid and run back, away from CandyMaster. “Hide behind the cars and get out of here ok?! Run to your parents!” Fuck. The kid is too terrified to move. You hold his hand and give him a small mental bump. You make him feel safe. Everything will be alright as long as you’re here. He finally nods and runs down the street.

Steel finally ducks behind a car. Great. You’re back where you started.

“OH AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET OFF EASY EITHER!” he says turning to you. You are shocked to see his cracked jaw is reforming… he seems to be literally made out of the same crystal material.

You evade the next spikes, but one of them gives you a nasty cut on your side. You thank the universe for the nanomesh shirt, which seals the wound instantly. Still, it stings like hell.

Candymaster sends a huge spike at Elyise, but this time she looks straight at it… and it stops in the air. You can’t help feeling a bit proud. Her Psychokinesis is improving rapidly since you agreed to help her train her mind.

“Enough of that!” the spike flies back at the CandyMaster, going through his chest, more pieces of him falling down on the street as his entire body is covered in cracks. .

The villain stumbles back.

“Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! Look what you’ve done… do you have ANY idea what it cost to make this costume ?” he seems furious… and not dead. You begin to wonder what’s going to take to finish him off. “Now I’m going to …”

You start sprinting with your gun drawn… Time to find out!

But then your mind feels another presence.. up.. in the sky.. it’s…

You stop in your tracks, right in time to avoid the wall of fire surging in between you and CandyMaster.

“Stop fooling around!” a male voice yells “We should have been gone 10 minutes ago!”

You notice a massive male figure taking hold of CandyMaster. He has mechanical wings attached to his back.

“I was just having some fun with my new friends here! You can’t blame me! I get lonely!”

“We’re going before they kill you!” and with that, a jetpack between the wings activates and the both of them fly away. Steel takes a few shots at them but fails narrowly

………………. A few minutes later……………..

Elyise and you are sitting on a bench. You’re telling her you’re ok for the 10th time when Steel finally approaches, his arms crossed.

“That one… was… interesting” He doesn’t seem to be trying to be hostile right now. For a change.

“Yes!” Elyise says looking at him. She doesn’t really know you two don’t get along. Good for her. “IT freaked me out! He was reforming too! And look… !” she holds a small piece of one of the murderous crystals “These are actual candy! You think he’s made of it?”

“They are?” you ask. You can’t help it… you lift your mask to reveal your mouth and lick it.

“AWWW THat’S JUST GROSS!” she yells. Yeah… you might have issues.

“I know… but .. it’s… really good candy?” You feel very confused while you pick up several other large fragments from the ground.

“Stop that!”

“Yeah.. sorry,” you say a bit embarrassed. But you put it all in a bag. For later. “It’s not my fault you wouldn’t let me have dinner”

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Steel interrupts in a more serious tone “I know who he sounded like tough. If voice recognition software works, he’s Vito Costa.., former mobster. And he’s gone completely insane.”

“Wasn’t he sentenced to death?” She asks. You remember it too…it was in TV a while ago.

“I guess he offered to take part in experiments,” You say before you realize you shouldn’t even talk about this.

Steel gives you a LOOK. one of the “I know you’re up to something” looks. The ones you hate. Fuck, you should just keep your mouth shut around him.

“Yes, you’re VERY well informed Sidestep… as usual… Voluntary experiment programs on death row are generally just delayed executions tough. I guess this one worked and no one bothered to tell the public he escaped.”

“Well, that’s our government for you!” You’re just SO GLAD it was Elyise who said it and not you. Reminds you why you like hanging out with her.

“Hhm..” Steel just looks at the ruined Building Legend Records tower. “Did you see that?” he points.

“What?” you look up. There is a large “V” sign written in fire over one of its walls. More than likely the flying guy who rescued CandyMaster. “Oh… what does that mean?”

“It means there’s a new power in town. Los Diablos Legend Records has always been in Hollow Ground’s pocket. Whoever "V” is… they are leaving their mark, showing off their power. The other guy was Balrog, and he’s a heavyweight villain. I almost catch him a few years back.“

You notice Ortega and Anathema coming along.

"Hey” Ortega speaks

“Hi” you reply. You’ve been avoiding him for a few weeks after that kiss at his place. You have no idea what to say to him.

“Hey.. can I get a picture?” the shy voice startles you. You notice it’s the same blond kid from before.

“Sure thing!” Anathema says. Let us gather and…

“No! I want a picture with him” he says pointing at you.

“Oh,” Anathema just laughs. “Sure thing! As long as Sidestep’s up for it?”

You blink. You generally don’t like pictures… but you’re not heartless... 

“Ehr.. right. Sure! Come over here!” you say awkwardly.

Anathema takes a picture.

“Can I have a video too? My brother’s not gonna believe this!”

“Oh sure!” you say. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Daniel! And I’m a big fan!”

“Alright… start recording Themmie!”

“Hey! I’m Sidestep, and this is my personal friend Daniel here with me! He’s been really brave, and we’ve just defeated CandyMaster!”

He yells in excitement as the video ends. He shakes your hand… and then you do a fistbump. Good thing you’re a telepath or you wouldn’t have ever realized what he wanted when he extended his fist at you. He hugs you and then leaves, a bit embarrassed.

“Wow, you’re great with kids!” Ortega comments. The words just make you feel 50 shades of awkward all over you.

“I know right?” Elyise goes on “Sometimes I feel like he’s a kid in the body of a young man!” Ok, the knife is just digging too deep.

She approaches you and whispers a few words to you.

“It’s done. That’s what we had to do. You needed to save that kid”

“Why? Who is he?”

“No idea,” she says turning and saying something to Anathema.

You sigh. No sense trying to understand how her precog abilities work. You can just hope it’s all for the best. And you’re glad you saved the kid.

Luckily it doesn’t take long for Steel to make a comment about you not saving the Legend Records tower, which you use as an excuse to get into a fight, and walk away avoiding any more remarks about your age… And especially, avoiding Ortega.


	2. Shy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following the last fic, Sidestep finally has the chance to have a chat with Ortega. Fluff and awkwardness ensue. 
> 
> Enjoy!

You’ve tried to avoid this as long as you’ve been a hero. And now it’s happened. 

“C'mon, we don’t look that bad!” Elyise talks with a smug grin.

“Where did they even take this?” you say holding the magazine. It shows a picture of you and Elyise on San Benito’s Pizzeria, having dinner together. Thankfully your mask is only pulled half up revealing nothing but your mouth as you hold a pizza slice. The title reads “Elstep! Know everything about the newest power couple!”. You didn’t feel any photographer. Must be a drone… unscrupulous media uses them these days. 

“Why are you losing it over this?” she chuckles. “You look really cute!. And, you know, we could go for it!”

“W…w… what… ?” You blush into the most intense fuchsia color your skin can possibly attain. Is she for real…?

And then you notice the crack in her shields… and she realizes it too. And she just bursts out laughing.

“I’m joking!!! Joking! We’re just friends Cyrus!” She thinks it’s hilarious clearly. You were about to have a heart attack. “Besides, you’re too young for me! Everyone’ would think I’m your sugar momma Cyrus! Or worse, they’d think I’m your aunt. Anyways, get ready, we need to get going!”

You’ve let her in your apartment. You have a job now, and your place. 

Psychic training is something you generally do in the park, but your apartment is decent enough that you can have her over for training when it’s raining outside like right now.

Today she came in bringing the tabloid and a message from Ortega. Since you avoid him, he’s resorted to talking to her, since Anathema is tired of being in between. Apparently, he needs your help with a mission on the docks. 

You can’t help look at her back and legs when she heads for the door… She thinks she’s too old for you getting close to her 40’s, but the truth is she’s kept in perfect shape. She’s got toned muscles and you always thought her short haircut was incredibly cool… and she’s got moves and… Elstep… NO! She’s just your friend! Last time you got involved with someone it became WEIRD. It’s still weird between you and Ortega. 

You should keep your friends as friends. That’s the only healthy way to go. 

Luckily your shields are up and she doesn’t notice a thing as you sit behind her in her motorbike. 

You hold tight trying not to think about your hands holding on to her. She’s just a friend that’s just taking you places. And who sometimes shares Pizza. And goes to your place. And engages in deep meditation-trances with you…

FUCK! 

This time she does notice and bursts out laughing while you just want to the ground devour you. 

……………………………………………….

Ortega and Steel are waiting for you two

Elyise parks the bike and you get down. Ricardo gives you an awkward greeting, which you answer equally awkwardly. 

Steel doesn’t have time for your particular flavor of romantic tension and simply goes through the facts.

“Authorities have lost contact with a ship a few miles of the coast, and it’s still heading our way. The satellite shows no activity on board. they’re sending us to investigate, and Marshall Charge thought we could use some backup. Especially now that Sentinel and Anathema are busy trying to chasing down Jupiter”

“Jupiter is back?” you ask. You heard the stories, but he retired before you became a hero. He was Marshall Hood’s greatest nemesis aside from Hollow Ground. 

“Yes, he’s wearing some sort of suit now… but we should focus on our mission." 

"Alright let’s do this. How do we get to the ship?” Elyise asks, always eager. 

Steel takes you to a coast guard boat, and soon enough you’re sailing.

“So… how have you been?” you ask Ricardo trying to break the ice. You have to speak loudly to be heard over the engine.

“It’s… been fine. A lot of work lately, with the new "V” guy all over town… What about you?“

"Oh, you know… I’ve got a job now. And my own place. And I’m helping Elyise with her powers…”

“Of course you are” He nods looking like a dog who’s lost his bone. “You two seem to be doing well” You can notice the strain of him forcing himself to smile.

“Are you talking about Elstep?” Elyise says approaching “I live for that stuff!” she adds.

“It’s… not like that,” you say looking at Ortega

“Like what?” he asks trying not to sound too curious.

“There is no Elstep” you groan. 

“Not yet at least!” Elyise laughs “It could work though. He tells the best jokes when he goes inside your mind”

“Ahhh… hah.. ha…” you try to laugh it off. It comes off as extra-awkward. Ricardo gives you an odd look.

“Sorry… I can’t help teasing you, you just make it so damn easy." 

"So… The media made it up. I just wanted pizza… And the owner offered us free meals for stopping Candymaster.” You manage to explain at last

“Oh,” he says pretending it’s no big deal. He looks into the sea trying to hide a smile. He is NOT a subtle person, even when he tries. 

“He even paid for it himself, and you know how cheap he is?” she adds. 

“I’m not cheap! … I mean not anymore!” You protest. “I have money…" 

"Yes you do dear, yes you do” she enjoys this so much. Fuck.

Elyise finally goes off to talk to Steel, asking him about his sailing experience and whatnot. 

Which leaves you and Ortega on the back. As the boat sails through the calm sea. The rain is gone, and it’s now a perfectly sunny day. 

“So to be perfectly clear, Elstep is not a thing?” he asks.

“No… it’s not” you manage to speak. 

Why are you doing this, you wonder? Oh. Right. Because you’re a sucker for his big eyes. An idiot is you. 

He’s also an idiot who just falls in love with the worst possible train-wrecks. 

Ricardo might be a bit out of his league this time tough… You aren’t a train-wreck, you’re a volcano eruption near an unsuspecting village. 

And of course, you’re so distracted he sits beside you… Too late now, he runs an arm behind your back. And he gets closer. Much closer. 

You can feel the warmth of his body through the skin-tight nanomesh, in contrast with the cold wind caused by the boat’s fast movement above the waves. 

It is not an uncomfortable sensation, to say the least. 

“So…” he starts, “You said… and I quote… We couldn’t have anything real until you had your place and your own money.”

You gulp.

“Yeah… I did… kind of… say that…" 

"In that case… ” he gives you that smile that he has filled so many posters with. “Can I… invite you to dinner…?”

Your lips begin to say something in your usual self-destructive pattern… but you are gloriously interrupted by Elyise.

“Hey look!" 

You are approaching the ship

There is smoke coming out of the bridge, and it would seem there has been a battle on board.

You stand up, looking at the ship… A few men are looking right back at your boat from it. 

"I thought there were no sailors on board?” Steel looks at Ortega.

“Those aren’t sailors,” you say, feeling their intentions even from this far. They are mercenaries… 

As you speak, you notice them start to arm and aim static machineguns at your ship.

Ortega stands up, frustrated. 

You’ve never been happier to have people about to try to shoot you down. You smile as Steel does a sharp turn to avoid the heavy fire while Elyise creates a psychokinetic field to stop the worst of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero
> 
> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.


	3. Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following up on the story, Sidestep grows closer to Elyise, and the dynamic of his conflict with Steel unfolds, as usual between them.

“HOLD ON!” Steel orders

You take hold as the boat evades the incoming fire barrage, one sharp turn after another. Elyise’s barrier stops most of the bullets, but some come through, digging holes in the boat’s surface. She doesn’t need to hold on since her powers should protect her from the sharp turns.

You try to keep your head low.

Ortega’s modded hand digs into the boat hull as he takes hold. He holds your arm with his other hand.

The gesture either makes you think he is being protective, or he thinks you are the fool that’s going to fall overboard. 

“STEEL! WHEN YOU TURN, AIM FOR THEM AT TOP SPEED!” Elyise asks

“WHAT? THEY’LL JUST SHOOT US DOWN!”

“TRUST ME!” she screams to be heard over the enemy fire.

*Help me with this* are the words she sends into your mind. You nod.

Steel gives another turn, this turn aiming for the large cargo ship, bullets coming left and right.

“WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE PLANING, DO IT N….”

You lose track of what Steel is saying. You are with Elyise. Helping her focus. Steading her hand so to speak. Her powers are much greater than she is able to manifest. But with your help, she can really exploit them.

You expand her focus. Give her training wheels so she can go on to do great things… great things… she is destined for great things… The alien thought sticks in your mind. Perhaps it’s one of hers? Wouldn’t surprise you. She’s not like you. She has a bright future as a hero in Los Diablos once she masters all of her abilities.

The boat jumps in the air at top speed, floating over the ocean thanks to Elyise’s Psychokinesis… The mercenaries look bewildered and try to dodge… Too slow. It lands on top of their machineguns, crushing several of them.

You are flung forward by the impact’s strength, falling over the ship’s deck in a roll, as you were trained to do.

Ortega also manages the roll. You know about his parkour past... Steel is not so lucky and slams into it with force. Still, his armor should do the trick and keep him safe.

Elyise… you don’t see her…

Oh. She’s slowly gliding down. Of course. Sometimes you forget she can do that.

“KILL THEM!” a mercenary yells. They pick up their weapons.

You and Ortega look at each other and charge onto them. You’ve done this a million times.

Ortega runs straight at their leader, all their shots missing since you’re projecting an illusion of him having jumped to fall above them.

He doesn’t even ask you to do it by now. You just do.

One of them draws an electric baton and comes for you, but you take his arm and fling him overboard. 

Steel has recovered and charges sending several of them to the floor. Their leader soon joins them, beaten by Ortega.

A pile of beaten humans, lying on top of each other. They wrest themselves free, knocking each other.

The group runs towards the lower decks… but is stopped when a massive figure emerges from the hatch. It simply swats them like flies on its way. Obviously it doesn’t consider them useful anymore. 

His metal suit is enormous. He must be about 2 and a half meters tall… and his arms … One ends in a mechanical claw. The other is a straight-up cylinder.

Military-grade armor. Fuck. The dark frame of the armor’s head becomes transparent, revealing the man inside.

You sense recognition from whoever’s inside. Steel is startled…

“Ahhh… If it isn’t Hood’s little pair of hostage boys and friends? Coming to ruin my party? If I had known, I would have been out there to receive you from the start!” The metallic voice echoes through the ship.

“JUPITER!?!” Ortega asks bewildered.

“What are you doing here?” Steel stood in a cautious stance.

“What does it look I’m doing! Ha! I’m going to spank both of your asses like I used to do every week back in the day. And there will be no Hood saving you morons! I can tell you how this is going to end… ” the arms begin pointing at Ortega and Steel “It ends the way it ALWAYS does! With me getting paid!”

“ORTEGA! MOVE!” You scream. He tries to. But it’s too late.

The metallic claw on his right arm starts spinning… and then emits a bolt of pure thunderbolt at Ortega, sending him flying through the duck up in smoke.

Steel charges at the armor.

“DODGE STEEL!”

Steel is faster and quickly jumps to the side as Jupiter’s left cylinder points at him. As the device activates, it extends at full speed, destroying the deck where Steel stood a moment ago. 

A giant pneumatic hammer used as a weapon on a suit. Now that’s a new one. Sometimes it’s the simplest technology that’s the most terrifying.

Steel closes in and holds the suit’s arms upwards, pushing him, trying to throw him overboard.

Jupiter headbutts him, sending him down. As he lies down, he points the cylinder directly at Steel’s head.

“Now die ranger!” He speaks in a cold murderous tone. You can sense the fear in STeel’s mind.

You invade Jupiter’s mind as swiftly as you’re able. Sending a whirlwind of random colors to block his sight and lose his balance. It works, he stumbles and the cylinder moves slightly down and left of its target.

“What… the.. fuck!” The cylinder activates and Steel screams in pain.

The armor around his arm is almost destroyed, taking the hit. Well, at least it wasn’t his head.

Jupiter regains his balance and turns on you and Elyse.

“YOU! YOU FUCKING KID! IM GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS!” He does despise younger heroes. You keep the colors blocking his eyes, but he isn’t a fool.. he’s managing to see trough.

“When I tell you… help me again,” Elyise asks.

You nod lightly, focusing on Jupiter. The claw on his right arm begins spinning… charging with power for another bolt. It looks for you… trying to find you as you try to keep it from targeting you.

“NOW!”

You let go and lend her your focus.

She lifts the boat again… and sends it flying at Jupiter’s suit.

The lightning bolt hits a wooden box by your side, making it explode as his aim is thrown off by the impact. Jupiter’s suit is knocked to the side, as he tries to regain his balance and hold his ground against the boat pushing him.

“I AM STRONGER! I AM… JUPITER! I WILL CRUSH YOU ALL!”

He begins regaining ground… Not even Elise’s full power unlocked with your help is enough against his armor suit.

“Who’s were you saying going to get spanked today again?” Ortega asks. He reaches the boat and begins pushing it onto Jupiter.

“As Hood used to say…” Steel speaks, taking pushing against the boat with his functional arm “The Rangers always get their man!”

“Yeah, even if he has to be drowned first!” Ortega adds finally.

Jupiter struggles, but all the added strength pushes his suit backward, towards the edge of the ship.

“Not this ranger shit again… You can’t… you… you aren’t stronger than.. me…” his voice sounding more desperate by the second “Hey… Hey kids! Wait… we can… HNHg… discuss it!”

“Do you hear something Charge?” Steel asks, his face red with effort.

“Nope. I only hear the sea. Do you hear anything Sidestep?” Ortega asks while pushing as hard as he can.

“Nothing at all Marshall,” you say with a grin while aiding Elyise’s psychokinesis.

“WAIT! I Yield! I’ll tell you everything! I can’t go underwater in this suit! I’ll drown!” Jupiter pleads as his feet touch the edge of the ship.

“Well.. in that case,” Steel started.

And then Jupiter’s claw lowers again, aiming Ortega.

“It’s a trap!” Elyise screams as she is the first one to notice. “THROW HIM DOWN BEFORE HE SHOOTS THAT THING AGAIN!”

“WHAT? No! No! Wait! This is a misundersta…” he screams desperately as the boat pushes him and his suit over the railing, and into the sea.

You approach Ortega and Charge, watching …

The suit sinks hard like a rock, going straight for the bottom.

“You think he can survive in there?” Ortega asks Steel.

“He’s got even more mods than I even without the suit. No way he can float. IT’s over”

You feel a little bit conflicted by this. “Can we do anything?”

“No,” Steel says in the end. “We don’t have a way to pull him up. It’s the end of Jupiter.” 

“He tortured so many people…” Ortega speaks with pure resentment. “I’m not going to cry Sidestep. And neither should you”

And then he stumbles to the left and lands on his butt.

“Fuck! Ricardo, are you ok?” you approach him. He got hit with a lightning bolt after all.

“My batteries took most of it” he smiles lightly. “It can’t be so bad!”

“You idiot, of course, it can be bad,” you say checking the mods.

“What about you Steel?” you force yourself to ask while trying to evaluate the damage. He’s an ally too.

“I think my armor’s toast around … and the arm hurts like hell… but it’s not broken as far as I can tell,” he says flexing with a pained expression.

“Alright… Let me take care of it” you say, volunteering to get the first aid kit from the ship. You’re trained as a field doctor among other things. It took Ortega and Steel a few injuries to realize you have more experience than some hospital surgeons.  
And of course, you refused to answer why. Not their fucking business.

You volunteer to get both a toolbox and first aid kit from the ship to repair the damage. That bastard Jupiter did a mess on Ortega’s mods. A few bad moves and his legs could disconnect completely.

Not a hard fix, but it takes a while to reinforce it aboard a ship. Some dermal cream for the burns is all you can do about that, but it doesn’t seem like it will leave a mark. You’ not sure why is he under so much pain… you check his wounds twice …

It takes you a few moments to realize he’s just exaggerating his pain. 

You just see it in his eyes. He wants to draw you in. He’s going to kiss you once more if you play his game.

You quickly turn. Steel needs just as much help.   
The armored around his arm is destroyed and causing him severe pain. No way to fix it, all you can do is to disarm it and free his arm, leaving it bare.

“Sorry… I don’t have replacement parts”

“It’s alright,” steel says, flexing his arm. “At least it’s stopped hurting so much.”  
“Thanks” He adds after a few awkward seconds. He always thanks you for helping them. It doesn’t stop him from wanting to get rid of you. It’s the passive aggressiveness you don’t stand.

———on the lower deck. ————-

“Gulf war Tech. Must be stolen” Steel says after hacking into the onboard computer. “ They were smuggling about a hundred boxes worth of it… enough to start a little war. I guess the mercenaries didn’t want to pay for the delivery.”

Large boxes as far as you can see in the storage compartment.

"Well… better count them,” you say. And you begin doing exactly that, while Steel goes over the details. 

Elyise is helping Ortega. That’s why you chose to start counting yourself. He’s still there pretending to be seriously hurt. Trying to drag you into talking alone again. He pulled the same trick at the party. When he told you he needed to go to the bathroom.

And you can’t have that. Because if you do, he’ll invite you out again, and you know you are going to say yes because you’re a sucker for him. And that will end up with him finding out. You need some way out… He will try again later, and with the boat in this condition, you’ll have to wait for a rescue team. You’ll be together for hours. 

It takes a while to count each box. You make it take a while. You don’t make mistakes when counting stuff. It’s another difference between you and humans. You could count about a thousand identical stones without counting any of them twice or making a mistake.  
Your body is purposely built for information gathering, and it’s a skill you’ve also been trained in.

“95… 96… 97” You end. “Steel… there are three missing boxes. They must have taken something from here.” you add pointing at some oil marks, left by a wheeled metal cart.

“That’s no good. It doesn’t seem like they could open them if they needed to carry them out”

“How do you know?” Ortega asks.

“These are old” Steel explains. “You need the old war Theater of operations codes to open one of these. Only someone in a unit with authorization from back then could have them.”

“Oh. Makes sense ” Elyise adds looking at the boxes.

“You two, head upstairs.” He looks at you and Elyise “My unit was assigned there back then… I’ll see what’s inside.”

“Why do we have to go upstairs?” You ask

“Because you are not rangers” He simply adds as if that was the end of discussion.

Ortega stands by you. “Hey… let’s go upstairs, let steel do his thing. we can chat and…”

No. Definitely not. That is NOT happening. And Steel just gave you the way out.

“Oh, so we’re good enough to save your ass from Jupiter, but we’re not good enough to see some rusted old weapons?” you start. You know what he said makes perfect sense. You’re not authorized to see the weapons. You would do the same thing. But as usual, he is giving you the perfect excuse.

“It’s not my fault you won’t follow proper procedure and join us instead of following Charge around like a lost puppy!”

You force yourself not to smile. You come up with a comeback. He answers, adequately insulting. You respond in kind. Ortega steps in trying to calm you both down. Steel just throws in the big ammo, actually calling you names. Now that’s a record. You raise his bet. Both of you look at Ortega. He’s the Marshall after all.

He sides with Steel. He has to. You’re not authorized to see stolen war gulf-war era weapons. 

You yell at Ortega for siding with him.

Its true Steel is right, but he could just skip procedure this time if he wanted.  
It’s all it would take to throw off your little scheme. He could do it if he truly cared so much. 

Instead, he tries to justify Steel’s words. To make you see reason. 

“Don’t be like that! You’re acting like a five-year-old!”

“I’m not a fucking kid Ricardo! I’ll go upstairs, I guess I should have learned my place is always at the back row with you guys.” You snap at him and storm off. They have made exceptions for some famous vigilantes and heroes. But not for you. It irritated you. But it certainly suits you now. 

Elyise follows you speechless.  
You’ve taken part in this dance so many times now. Most of the time, Steel wins.  
But sometimes, you just want him to think he won.

Mission accomplished. Now you have the perfect excuse not to talk to Ortega for a long while. 

That AND, he is the one who will feel guilty about sending you off.  
You do feel bad about the whole thing. But you would feel worse if the farm captured you again. And maybe killed him while doing it. He is nothing to them.

Lives are interchangeable. Expensive Experimental Regenes that have been on development for years are not. 

“Is it always like that?” Elyise asks as you reach the stairs.  
“Yes. It’s always the fucking same,” you answer, trying to look hurt, your shields suitably raised.  
“Well… I guess he’s just trying to do his job… could use with some better manners though… ” She sighs. “Let’s go up, shall we?”  
“Yes, lets’” She moves, letting you go first.  
As soon as you reach the ship’s surface deck, you look down.  
“Damn… I think I lost a glove down here! Give me a moment”

You sigh, turn and look at the sea. She climbs up half a minute later and joins you.  
“Hey.. are you still mad about this?” she says putting a hand on your shoulder.  
“Yeah,” you say. You indeed orchestrated this. But a part of you expected Ricardo to ruin your plan and tell Steel to go fuck himself. And he didn’t. And you felt alone again. You *are* made about it. For real. 

And so you spend the rest of the trip, venting about Steel with Elyise.

Steel called you Ortega’s lost puppy. But it’s Ortega who looks the part in the end. Standing by himself, wanting to approach you but knowing you’re furious. 

You’re not sure if that’s a reason to celebrate. The whole thing just makes you drift apart from them. And Ortega is… you don’t know what he is, but he’s definitely more than a friend, and you can’t talk to him now. 

Oh well. 

At least Elyise is your friend now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fanfiction: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero
> 
> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.


	4. The Friend zone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This took me infinitely longer than usual to write. Mostly because Discord is so addictive. But I think the time paid off, re-reading it several times improved it so much. I generally fumble the middle of these stories in a rush to get to the sweet finales. So I guess I’m learning? I feel somewhat more confident about the end result. 
> 
> Enjoy!

You walk carefully through the large dark room, trying not to drop anything.

Hollow Ground, looms ahead of you, larger than life and ready for battle.

You don't stop, slowly walking towards him… until you find the right spot and turn, sliding into your seat on the left row followed by Elyse and Anathema. It's a bit difficult to do while holding on to the popcorn and your coat, but you manage. 

Now more relaxed, you lay back, taking your seat, as you watch rapid clips from many of the Ranger’s previous movies cycling through the screen until the Producer’s logo comes out from a collage of them.

Anathema Is still watching some video about kittens in his phone, while Elyise still talks to her girlfriend, giggling in a way more befitting of a young teenager.

“Hey,” you say "It’s about to start!“

"Oh.. right,” Anathema says putting her’s in airplane mode. Elyise finally hangs up and smiles at you.

And then, the movie starts…

——Some seventh art magic later——–

You walk out, feeling a bit sick. You ate too much… Why do they make the buckets so large?

“Well, I’ll go first I didn’t like it much" Anathema starts. “It’s just not a very good follow-up to the Eldritch movie”

“Well duh, Eldritch was… Eldritch. A great terrifying villain makes a better movie than an ensemble of random evil guys. Eldritch took all of us to defeat in the end, and we were really lucky. 

"You think so?” Elsyise asks. “I kind of enjoyed it. Seeing all the different powers and abilities facing off against each other.”

“I guess it’s subject to debate” Anathema concedes.

They keep on discussing the movie. Your thoughts lie elsewhere.

You always watch movies like this along with Ortega and Themie… And now you’ve kind of replaced him with Elyise. You fucking miss him. 

She turns at you.

Oh shit.

You let your shields slip for a moment and she noticed you’re thinking about her and Ortega.

She says nothing and goes back to talking to Anathema.

You walk him off to his bike and say goodbye as he sets off through the streets.

“So” Elyise finally asks.

“Sorry” you begin before she does. “I keep thinking about Ortega and that fight…”

“I’m intrigued. Steel had a point. Why didn’t you join the Rangers already? You and Ortega are very close… Even after that fight”

“I… ” you look at her. What lie can you possibly tell her? “I don’t… trust the government enough to join them” you say at last.  
That’s not really a lie.

Her eyes widen for a second at your honest response, and then she smiles.

“That’s wise,” She says with a bitter smile. “No telepath ever should trust them,” she says walking onwards.

“W…why?” You ask, your shields raised into impenetrable barriers.

“Well, You’re too young to know about it… Back in the day when the first of us telepaths gained our powers, there was a big scare in the media. They demonized us. Some of us had gone public and suffered for it. The government just rounded us up. And took us to camps and labs… there were experiments.”

Fuck. You know all too well about it.

“That’s terrible!” you say “What… happened then?”

“I was lucky. My parents had money and they used it. Sued and bribed big time. They had to release me in the end, but most who take the hero drugs are desperate, and they had no one outside. There was never any record of them being taken either.” She looks much older, tired and sad as she speaks about this. “You know… I still look for some of them… In social media. I haven’t been able to find a single one yet.” Her eyes are bit tearful.

"It’s.. over,” you say “They can’t hurt you now” You are not very good with words… but you have other means. You can’t help it. Your shields open and you brush your mind against her… offering her some comforting thoughts.  
You used to do this when they weren’t looking. You did this for your brothers and sisters, to try and fix them, keep them from falling appart. It’s how you survived.

She gasps as she realizes what you’re doing. Blocking and negating her fears and terrors… “THat’s… that….” She takes your wrist, looking at you wide-eyed “I don’t know how you can do that thing!. I’ve had these powers for 20 years and I can’t manage something like that. I thought I was a strong telepath…”

“You're strong. And It’s not so hard…” you smile. “Just… follow my lead” It’s tricky teaching her these things. But you’re good enough to play the game and hide your cards at the same time.  
Her mind observes as you do it a few times… brushing thoughts against people around you. Leaving them with a sense of peace and stupid nonsensical smiles. Sometimes you wish you could do that to yourself.

And then… she attempts it herself. Slowly at first… until she manages to reach the superficial layers of a woman passing by, causing her to smile briefly.  
“What the… I did it!” she is overjoyed.

“Told you it wasn’t hard!”

“Not hard? That probably the most complex manipulation I’ve ever done!”

She’s not wrong… without someone showing you how to do it beforehand, you’d probably fry people’s brains and hurt yourself in the process if you tried.   
You roll your eyes. “I think Jupiter would beg to differ.”

“Telepathy is the hard part you smartass.”

“Hey, I can’t toss motorboats at enemies!”

“Sure can… you just bring me along!”

A couple passes looking at you and laughs.

“Oh fuck. More people thinking I’m your cougar mamma… Let’s go already” 

She jokes about it, but she’s quite self-conscious about being older than you. You’re not one to judge her. 

Your phone rings, startling you. Anathema made you buy it some time ago, but you almost never use it.

You fidget with it, trying to turn it on

It’s Ortega.

You let it ring a few more times, while your mind decides what to do. Elyise stands patiently.

“Hello there,” you say in the end

“Hey Cyrus” his voice sounds a bit hesitant. “I was wondering… can I meet you somewhere?”

You doubt for a moment.

Fuck.

“ah… sorry… If you’re busy then maybe…” He starts again.

You take a deep breath.

“No. I’m not busy. It’s ok. Let’s meet”

You agree to meet in a bar, not far from where you’re standing. Just a few blocks.

“Ooohh… you are meeting him tonight?” Elyise is guessing who he is… but it’s not that hard to guess. She knows how hard it is to get your number.

“Yes… we are meeting. Not far from here actually”

“Well, what are you waiting for? I’ll walk you there!” she grins. “I was wondering when were you two going to make peace.”

You sigh. “Yeah… we are friends… it’s about time we mend make out” She just snorts walking ahead as you realize what you just said.

“Make up! I meant to say make up! We’re not going to make out!” you try to correct but it’s no use

“Of course you're not!” she says laughing as you reach your destination. She turns to you, and gives you a strong patt on both shoulders “You go in there tiger… and you make out with that man, you hear me?”

“But I didn’t…” you start

And she turns dramatically looking at you over her shoulder

“French-style” is the last thing she says as she walks away laughing towards her own ride.

You smile. She knows how to make you laugh.

THere’s no loud music inside, and several pool tables. It’s decent and has some good food.

He shows up a moment later.

“Hey,” you say a bit awkwardly.

“Hey, you” he answers. You stand apart… 

“About the other day…” he starts. He’s also feeling the awkwardness, grabbing his elbow across his body tightly with his right hand. 

“Yeah… that was… bad…” you say looking down

“I mean… I’m so…”

“No, I'm the one who's sorry.” You say it first. Let’s make this painless

“Hey, that was my line!”

“Yeah… but… I’m not happy about that argument either”

“Well… I’m sorry too. We shouldn’t have let you out of the loop, you were part of the mission too. Sometimes Steel gets too muddled up in the rules.”

“I shouldn’t have asked you to go against him. You’re the Marshall”

“So… we forget about it?” He asks extending his hand

“Forgotten already, Ricardo” you shake hands, and he draws you into a hug.

“Darn. I should have called you sooner. We could have seen the movie together”

“It sucked. And I should have called you first”

“It’s in the past. Let’s go in!” he says, his bright smile flashing again. 

You talk. You play pool. You have some drinks.  
You’re being careful not to activate any of his or your triggers, and thus he doesn’t make another move on you this time. He’s just grateful you’re hanging out again. And you are as well.

Now if you can just manage to maintain this chemistry… he’ll hook up with someone else soon enough and you’ll be in the clear. It’s all about knowing how to keep the balance.

A few hours later, you are leaving together. He had a few more drinks than he should, so you agree to drive him home. You can take a bus there.

“Put on your seatbelt, safety first,” you say as you adjust the mirrors.  
“We should invite you to one of that safety on the road campaigns they make us do” he chuckles “You’d look swell in the posters!”  
“Well, if it pays, I’ll do it,” you say. “But the mask stays on”  
“Not sure if they can send you a check if they don’t know your true name”  
“So we’re not doing that then” you grin.  
“I have to tell you… you’re the most paranoid, neurotic, unreasonably suspicious person I know…”  
“I just know what’s best for me” you smile as you take a turn "Safety first, didn't I tell you?". 

Odd… your mind feels there are several bugs around. Did some insects get inside the car? You feel them flying towards you. You look around but don’t see them. 

He bumps your arm lightly “You sir, are a loon. But you’re my kind of loon!”  
“You’re a crazy maniac yourself” you chuckle. You are happy. Success. You’re plot worked, and you’re back in the friend zone. You just need to remember to never overstep the boundary again. Ricardo’s your best friend, after all you’d be lost without him.

You can’t help it… you swat at the air around you.

“I think there's a bee in the car” you state out of the blue.  
He looks around, a bit bewildered, obviously not keen on getting stung.   
"Well if there's a bee, can't see it. Did you see it?" he says.  
"Well I'm a telepath, and I tell you I'm sensing a bee. No wait... bees. Many bees" you say looking around.   
Why can't you see them?

You stop at a traffic light. This is getting weird.   
You focus your thoughts, looking for the bee.   
Bees.   
Eight of them. All focused on you.   
Only… they aren’t inside your car. You look at the car next to you.

“Ortega.. what the fuck is that?” you look in disbelief.

The driver in the car next to you wears a trenchcoat and a hat… and he has no face, just what looks like a black mask with glowing golden lights instead of eyes.  
But the weirdest part is he has no human mind. All you can sense is a bee when you look at it.

He turns. “Wha…” he takes a brief look before almost jumping in his seat “START THE ENGINE RIGHT NOW!” Ortega utters you.

“But the traffic light is….”

“Forget about the stupid traffic light! Get us out of here!”

You start the car, accelerating as fast as you can.

Then the shooting starts. The things in the car is giving chase and shooting at you.

“Just keep going, this car is bulletproof!” You take a turn, trying to avoid them.

“What are those things?”

“It’s HIVE” he says as if that explained it all. “I mean they are HIVE.”

“Wait… are those the bees?”

“Yes. HIVE always attacks in numbers! Keep going!”

You ignore the following two traffic lights. Another car joins the one already pursuing you, shooting energy weapons and bullets at Ortega’s car.

You keep trying to outrun them…

And you don’t notice the car coming from your left and right.  
They drive forward, ahead of you, trying to force you to slow down.

“They are going to catch us!”

“Not if I can… help it!” Ortega opens his window and you notice a discharge from him. The driver on your left explodes in a rain of sparks, overcharged, and its car goes out of control, crashing into a small flower shop. You take the chance to turn left now that it’s not blocking you.

“What the fuck are they? I only sense bees inside them!”

“Rogue robot network, controlled by Bee’s brains connected to machines instead of software! It’s my Nemesis!”

“What?! How come I’ve never heard of it??!”

“It’s a secret government project… and it was destroyed! Hood And I defeated Hive back in the day!”

“It seems pretty Healthy to me!”

And then you sense it… bees… so many bees.

“They’re coming from all sides!”

“Can you evade them?”

“I’ll try,” You say with little confidence. Fuck. Ortega is the better drive… if only he hadn’t had so many drinks…

More cars full of bee robots come into view.

You try to get in between them… but they turn at the last moment causing a crash. The airbags burst in your face, leaving you winded.

Something tears down the door on your side and a robotic arm struggle to pull you off, but the seatbelt gets in the way. You shoot at it with your energy gun, sending it into the ground. Another one immediately takes it’s place, pulling the gun from your hand. It then unbuckles the belt and pulls you down onto the pavement, face-first.

You stand up with difficulty. They approach with their glowing golden eyes. All of them wearing the creepy trenchcoats and hats disguising their metallic bodies. Who the heck dressed them out? Did they get a discount?  
You see Ortega fighting them off, he’s good enough to do it even while drunk. His electrical arcs are good excellent weapons against them. Several are already broken on the floor.

One of them charges.. and you try to block his fist, but the kick to your gut takes you unprepared, sending you down on your back.

Truth is, you have no idea how to predict or read a bee’s brain. You try to stand up again, but another one sends a metallic fist to your face that makes you see dotted colors.

Two of them take you by your arms and drag you away, your arms and legs refusing to cooperate.

"Cyrus! I’m coming to you, Cyrus! Hang on!!” you hear Ortega’s voice in the distance, as the robots toss you at the back of a ban, slamming the door. You hear an engine starting.

Someone runs a hand through your face… what…? You look up and immediately regret it.

“Oh hello, again you sweet sweet funny man!” The CandyMaster greets you. “We’re going to play so many games together. It will be so much fun!!”

What.   
The.  
Fuck.

You open your mouth to scream.

His hand covers it before any coherent sound can come out of it.

“HHMMHGGFFRHFFHG!!” You scream for someone to help you. Anyone. This one gives you the fucking creeps.

He widens his gaze as he activates his power. You feel the crystal candy expanding inside your mouth. Sealing it shut. You can’t even spit it out. 

One of the HIVE robots takes hold of your hands and locks them with handcuffs.

“Now now, don’t be rude! Eat your candy or there will be a …punishment!” he chuckles giving you a smile with his shining white teeth that is just the stuff of nightmares.

The overwhelming sweetness in your mouth makes you want to throw up. But you know if you do that you're more than likely to choke and die. You have to endure. 

You try to enter his mind… but It’s so warped… It will take a while to get to know how it works. 

The ban drives off through the dark streets of Los Diablos’ suburbs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero
> 
> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.


	5. Cracked Candy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sidestep is captured by Vitruvian’s minions and left under the care of the sadistic Candymaster, while Ortega and the Rangers race to save him. 
> 
> Enjoy!

You cant’ scream. You can’t complain.   
Your mouth is sealed by the crystalline substance that's making you regret having tastebuds.  
All you can do is watch helplessly as CandyMaster keeps torturing you.

When you woke up, you were are dangling from a pipe on the ceiling of the cell, your hands handcuffed together and held by a chain. Your arms feel like hell, they kept you suspended for hours up there while the Candmyaster beat you. You are still held up by the cuffs and chain, but your feet aren’t dangling anymore. You are standing, now, but of course, the freak made it a thousand times worse.

“So delicious! You’re almost ready!” he cackles.

Ready for what, is the question you don’t want to answer.

Your lower body is now almost completely encased inside a growing red sugary crystal that’s slowly rising from the floor, already covering part of your chest. IT’s getting increasingly hard to breathe under its pressure.

“GHMHMMM!” you try to yell, to no avail. 

The growth stops. He wants to see you suffocate slowly.

“What?” he asks bending an ear your way. “I didn’t quite get that”

“HMMGGF!” 

“Oh, you want more? I’m glad to oblige!” he cracks in laughter again, the crystals covering up more of your body.

Tears begin to fall off your eyes. You're not going to survive this. You’ve only just begun untangling the seals of his strange mind, so you won't be ready to pull any string in time to actually stop him.

The screens in front of you come to life, startling you, as well as Candymaster. You look upwards… a figure inside an impressive green tech combat armor suit with a helmet. 

Vitruvian

“Aww.. we can’t play anymore, Sidestep Darling. I need to speak with my sugar daddy” he adds, giving you his white smile.

You look down, defeated. This only delays your doom.

“I am not. Your fucking. Sugardaddy” Vitruvian speaks with a cold metallic voice booming downwards into the room. 

“Oh, sure you are! You appreciate me and pay for all my toys!”

“Just… put him on screen already… ” Vitruvian seems exasperated. 

“Coming through!” The CandyMaster adjusts the camera to focus on you. “Ta-da!”

“GMHEMHHT THFIGMS FGMUKCHINHMG THMING OFFHMM MMHMY MOhMHMMUHMTH!”

“What the HELL did you do to him?

"Just a few games! Games games games, I like games!”

“FUCKING LUNATIC! I NEED HIM ALIVE!”

“OH don’t worry, I’m careful with my toys… I wasn’t going to break him… YET!”

“Shut … up… Just remove that thing of his mouth”

“Aww… I liked it… can’t we keep it on?”

Vitruvian helm simply stares at him.

Candymaster taps your sealed mouth and the crystal cracks in pieces. You spit candy stones all over the place as the thing falls apart. 

“FUCK… YOU!” you scream at CandyMaster

“See? It kept him well behaved.”

“Leave us,” Vitruvian says, furious.

The monster finally leaves the room, leaving you alone with the screens.

“Well well… Welcome, Sidestep. I’m sorry for the delay. I was.. occupied.”

“And fuck you too,” you say to the screen.

“Again, apologies… Candymaster clearly went a bit overboard. But that can’t be helped now…”

“What the fuck do you want from me?”

“Ah.. straight to the point. Very well, let me show you…” The armored figure turns to another console “Doctor M., please send the sample inside the cell”

Shortly after, the door opens, and a pair of Hive units enter, pushing a metal tray with a glass box inside. A black residue is at the bottom of the box.

“What… is that?” you can’t help ask.

“That, Sidestep… are dormant Nanovores. Relics of the Gulf war.”

Nanovores. The terrifying word resonates in your mind. You’ve heard the accounts. They can cover entire areas eliminating all life, stopping at nothing. Devouring people on the spot. 

“You stole them from that ship!”

“I see you’re keeping up, good for you. Yes, I got them out of the ship before you and your friends sent Jupiter to the bottom of the sea. You spared me having to pay him for his services too, so I thank you once more.”

“I wish you had been there too, you sick monster!”

He ignores you, and goes on “Now, what I need is for you to help me activate the nanovore’s control software”

“Why would I do that? I’m not… helping… you!” You struggle trying to break free… but you only manage to get the crystals to dig deeper into your suit. It hurts horribly, until you stop, exhausted.

Vitruvian simply stares at your futile attempts before speaking again.

“Are you satisfied? Is it over? Did you get it all out of your system?”

You look down, exhausted and weak.

“How do you even want me to help you? I’m not a scientist”

“Oh, I know. And I also know you’re not a martial artist either. You are a telepath. And a very strong one. Which is exactly what I need to unlock the nanovores”.

“W… what?”

“You will do this for me. Or else, I will release the nanovores in the cell you’re in right now.”

The screens show a graphic of the nanovores spreading through the room leaving nothing behind… and then spreading through a large circular area of square kilometers before dying off. Spreading so fast…

“It will take them around 9 minutes to break the glass. If you haven’t unlocked their software by then, they will devour you. According to the gulf war accounts, if you believe those, it’s worse than being flayed alive.”

“I’m not… a telepath”   
His image is replaced on screen by past footage of you striking Eldritch’s behemoth form’s head, sending the whole monster down.  
Then the screen returns to him.  
“That is not the work of martial arts. If you’re not a telepath, I’m afraid you’ll die here, Sidestep, and our business will be concluded.”

Fuck.

“Are you insane? Even If I was… How am I going to control machines?”

“It’s in their design. Dr. M and I have studied this technology.”

Dr. M., You remember the name… a powerful villain relying on advanced tech.

“You are strong enough to do this. The machinery in this room will record your efforts so it can be reproduced.”

“I won’t!” you defy him. “I won’t help a freak like you get hold of a weapon of mass destruction”.

“Pitty,” He says. “But I haven’t finished” he continues.  
He is replaced once more… security cameras? There seems to be a battle outside… you see energy weapons fire and…

“You are watching the exterior of this complex. Your friends are coming to rescue you”

Anathema is facing off against the HIVE robots on screen. Steel and Sentinel are creating a distraction on another sector, fighting off another squad of HIVE led by Balrog.

“I’m sure they are all here somewhere, even if the cameras haven’t picked up all of them. If you won’t do it, then not only will you die, but them as well, you see the range on these things is quite impressive. Nothing will survive in this complex. Their lives, are in your hands Sidestep. So do it, and save them, save yourself. Or don’t… and you can all die together.”

The screens turn black.

As she speaks, the black residue inside the box comes to life, spinning and turning into a cloud of black smoke.

You hear a harsh sound coming off the box. The nanovores are eating it’s walls, just as Vitruvian said they would. Glass seems to be pretty resistant, but you can see how it's being eroded already.

The screens show the Rangers battling their way inside.

There is no way to warn them.

“FUCK!” you scream. You struggle once more, but it’s useless. The handcuffs above are firm, and the crystal below is like an anchor, constricting you.

He’s left you no choice. No fucking choice.  
You can’t let them die.

You try to concentrate. Your body is in a tremendous amount of stress. But you try again… and again…

The sound from the box becomes louder.

You start feeling it. They have a presence to them… You keep attempting to connect, but each time’s a new failure.

Is that a crack on the box? Or your mind playing tricks…

“GHAA!” you scream as you manage to make contact for a brief second. You have to keep trying… you have to…

The screens outside shows Balrog and Steel are going hand to hand. They will be distracted… they won’t have time to flee.

You focus once more. You can’t fail. You can’t fail them.

~Contact~

The strange language inside the Nanites floods your brain… you realize it’s some sort of computer language.

You focus even harder…

The residue stops spinning and focuses on your side of the box.

Shit. You're doing it wrong, you're just leading them to you, they'll devour you even gaster now that they're focused on a single side.

It begins to crack…

“Stop! Stop!” you yell at them… The glass begins to crack everywhere.

And something clicks. You’ve managed to do something… unlocked something…   
They freeze… and fall back into the box’s bottom, lifeless once more.

You take a deep breath. You did it… whatever happens next… you saved them.

A screen flashed on the device on the wall on the left.  
“Data Package sent” it flashes.  
Vitruvian won.  
He got what he wanted.

You hear footsteps… and a mind approaching… it’s…

Oh no…

The door opens and CandyMaster barges in.

“My precious young man, it seems your friends found us! I’m not sure how they did it, but they want to rescue you… We can have that!” he says forcing you to look at him, taking your chin with his sharp crystal fingers.

“I’m afraid this is goodbye for us! I enjoyed our time very much!” he giggles, as he commands the crystal to grow once more.

“Hm… bas… tard!” you scream in terror feeling the crystals pressure increasing. You are about to die. It’s over… The pain is unbearable. You try to scream… but you can't breathe anymore. 

You don’t want to die.

Not like this. 

“S…to..p!”   
"Please ... s... top.."

You can only hear his laughter, your vision darkening...

And then the air vent on the ceiling behind him opens up as someone kicks it open.

CandyMaster turns to see Ortega jump down through it.

“Oh… I didn’t know there was another dessert coming up!” he starts laughing, raising his hands to use his powers…

Only this time you get him.

He is distracted, and you get inside his mind. You don’t know how his mutated brain works, but you’re in, so you simply start pulling and breaking everything you see. You’ve’ learned to fear him, but right now It’s either you or him.

“Aaargh… ” the CandyMaster holds his head, in pain… and then it explodes in pieces, being replaced by Ortega’s Electrical fist. His body continues to move, but Ortega strikes once more, the thing cracking up and falling apart in a thousand pieces.

“Fuck! Cyrus, I’m here!” he runs to you

You just look at him, gasping for air.

“Hang on, let me break this shit!”

He starts pulling the crystal pieces apart. You struggle to remain conscious… until you finally sense your lungs released from the pressure.

“Mierda…” he says, still working on releasing you. “What did that monster do to you?”

“Thank… you… Ricardo” Is all you can say. You are tearing up. “Thank… you”  
He continues breaking down crystals, releasing your legs. They hurt too las if you were on fire once blood flow returns. 

The thing is stuck to your suit, and you have lot of cuts everywhere. Fortunately, your nanomesh seals your skin once they are removed.

“Elyise called us… her precognition told her where they took you… Fuck… I’m sorry. If I hadn’t…”

He breaks the chain to which your handcuffs are attached, and you fall down. He catches you. Your can't even stand. And the handcuffs are still there.

“Fuck.. let’s.. take you out of here,” he says with concern, carrying with both arms. Elyise comes inside as well "Yes! You got him! The HIVES are fleeing… And Sentinel sent Balrog down with a wind gust while Steel broke down one of wings. They’ve captured him… What the… Cyrus are you ok?” she says approaching.

No, you’re NOT OK you want to scream. You’ve been tortured for hours and you thought you were going to die. You were sure of it.

“Let’s get him out,” Ortega says.

A piece of the CandyMan’s face lies on the floor, it’s dead eye staring at you, hauntingly. 

You bury your face in Ortega’s chest as he walks out.  
“Thank you” You keep repeating, in tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fanfiction: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero
> 
> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.


	6. NANOSURGE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armed with modified Nanotechnology, Vitruvian sets out to take over Los Diablos with an infinite army of robots.   
> The Rangers gather all heroes in a desperate rush to save the city from the would-be conqueror. 
> 
> Notes: I'm modifying this one a bit from it's Tumblr version. I can do better now -I hope-

It's hypnotic.   
Another building engulfed by the nanites falls apart, the new dome starting to surge almost instantly from the wreckage.   
It's been the same everywhere you go. The nanites take down the landmarks and then build the domes, and when they are complete, steady streams of Hive robots come trough their doors.   
Instant nanite construction is Vitruvian's signature move now, and as the architect of old, he is changing Los Diablos skylines with the new alien structures. 

Another swarm of HIVE soldiers marches past your hiding spot.  
“Stay low” Steel whispers as they pass.

The ranger’s headquarters was the first to fall, and now HIVE is systematically laying siege to the police stations.

A few TV’s in a shop across the streets are still on and broadcasting Vitruvian’s absurd list of demands.  
As the last Soldiers turn the corner, Steel gives the signal. Ricardo helps you stand up and move forward.

Elyise left a while ago, trying to save her girlfriend. Her precognition was correct again. She was just in time to avoid the massive patrols moving through the city.  
The only positive is no one wants to bring you to a hospital with half the city overrun it’s out of the question.

Steel attempts to organize resistance and establish communications with other heroes as you move but everywhere you go the situation is the same. HIVE is slowly wrestling control.

You have only the most simple of plans. You are attempting to approach Vitruvian’s main dome. The nanites constructed it from the ground up in just less than an hour, which explains why he needed to be able to reprogram them. The technology he’s developed is revolutionary and could change the balance of power, but it’ useless without the nanites themselves. 

HIVE robots have been coming out from its gate periodically. Nanites must be constructing new ones inside the dome endlessly. His army will keep increasing in numbers as long as he has bees.  
After a few blocks, you take a few minutes to rest. You struggle to sit down, with Ortega’s aid.

“Hey…” Ricardo speaks. You’ve been silent most of the way here. “This isn’t your fault, you know that right?”  
“It IS my fault, Ricardo… but thanks”

He sighs, rubs your shoulder a bit and goes back to helping the others.  
“Alright… the Justices will assault the smaller Dome by the bridge within the hour. The Zero-Force will strike and mount resistance with the aid of the police here” he says pointing at a spot in a 3d map. “We’ll have a small window to attack the main dome, and if they can pull trough, they’ll join us there.”  
"Understood," you say.

“And… Cyrus” Steel speaks again “You’re not coming”

“What?!” you ask

“You can barely walk”

“I can walk just fine!” you say defiantly. “I did this! I need to fix this!”

“No one is blaming you, but this isn’t about that. You’re in no condition to fight. You’d just slow us down.”

You glare at him as he gives you his usual cold stare in return.

“Steel is right,” Ricardo says. “We can’t bring you. Besides… your powers don’t work on the HIVE”

“I… I still … have my gun!” you stutter trying to convince yourself.

“That’s not going to get you very far” Anathema intervenes.

“But… it’s my mess”

“It’s not your mess. It’s Vitruvian’s fault. We’ve dealt with worse” Steel’s goes on.

You complain… you curse at them. You beg.  
But they won’t change their minds. Ricardo and Anathema give you a hug.   
You know they are right.

You’re useless. Your body is bruised everywhere, you’ve got cuts that still haven’t healed, and everything is a pain.  
On top of that, your powers are laughable against the current threat.

They are gone. In their suicide mission.  
There’s nothing you can do. You hide inside an abandoned store as you figure out where to go next.  
About 20 minutes pass, nerves consuming you by not knowing what’s going on.

That’s when you hear it.  
Metallic noises approaching.

Fuck.

A squad of HIVE droids. They are entering the buildings… looking for the rangers.  
You can feel the bee brains inside. Examining the area.   
One turns and starts walking towards you. It will find you.  
Damned thing…

You hide in the cereal section, behind your own cereal brand. How would your life be right now if you actually got paid for having your image in it?   
Discarding the random thought, you draw your gun. You're not going to go down so easily.  
It's no use. The thing is methodical and thorough in its search.  
You wait until the last second… and when it almost reaches your hiding spot, you take a shot, sending it down.

The other HIVE robots immediately notice and start shooting in your direction.  
So the rangers where wrong to leave you here… you’ll die anyway. Oh well. 

You can’t let this end like this.  
There must be a way to penetrate their minds… there must be something you can do.

They seem to be a mixture of insect instincts and programming… Maybe if. You remember the strange language of the Nanites. Maybe if you combine the two…  
The enemy draws closer, as you dig deep into their tiny brains. They are bugs. You have to be able to do this!  
And then somehow, you are inside. You don’t know how their mind works… but you’re inside.

How does a bee brain work? You never studied any of this. The only way forward is to attempt to change something before they kill you that is.  
One of the robots starts shaking, holding its head and then collapses on the ground, offline. That worked.  
You focus on the remaining two…  
The one on the left just stops shooting… and walks straight into a wall repeatedly, as if it wanted to go through it.  
That’s not it…

*FREEZE* you send the mental order to the last one.  
The thing stops. After a few seconds, it still hasn’t shot you, it's gun paralyzed in its hands. You emerge from your hiding spot. It turns to you.   
Shit, you screwed up, now you're dead for sure.   
It walks up to you, putting the gun away. What the...?  
You sense something new from the brain… Obedience. Leader. Growth… Queen?  
You’ve made it think you’re his fucking queen.  
You smile. 

………………..15 minutes later………………

A large group of HIVE follows you. One of them is pushing the shopping cart you’re sitting in. The Rangers were right, you’re in no condition to walk…  
But now you don’t have to.

You begin to hear the explosions in the area around Vitruvian’s dome. It's not a good sight.  
The Rangers are pinned down… masses of robots are marching from inside the dome and charging against them.  
Anathema is being overwhelmed, a swarm of nanites is building more HIVE around him faster than he can destroy them. There is a bee swarm flying above him, ready to enter the newly built units. Vitruvian must be managing that personally.  
What’s left of the LDPD is shooting at the enemy, being led by Steel, but they are in retreat he must be out of missiles. Ortega is sending discharges wildly, but his batteries won’t last forever.  
The Justices and Zero-Force are no better.

Time to take the initiative.  
*Attack the enemy hive* You order. You’ve been practicing, and this particular order, they know. Dethrone the enemy queen. 

Your HIVE guards charge against the enemy.  
You expand your mind, turning even more HIVE to your cause.  
The rangers are startled as the HIVE begin fighting each other.  
You make your triumphant entrance… followed by your own HIVE army.  
Changing the tide of the battle by yourself.  
You’ll finally get some respect from them when they see how fearlessly you advance…

On your shopping cart.

Fuck. That is NOT the mental image you had in mind.

The battle goes on, and finally the enemy retreats, having lost far too many robots in the push. Your own forces have increased exponentially. Bees are eager to serve the rising new queen. 

“CYRUS!” Anathema chuckles as he approaches your cart. “You raggedy bastard! How in the hell did you manage that?”

Ortega follows him, holding a thumbs up “You stubborn troll, you never give up!”  
You smile… You’ve managed to…

Your mind captures something moving in your direction. You look up.  
A figure on a green-winged suit… followed by many flying hives robots.  
Shit.  
"Incoming!" you yell pointing up.

Vitruvian lands near you.

“YOU!” he says approaching. “YOU ARENT GOING TO STOP ME!”

He points at you with his arm… a laser weapon? No time…  
You make the HIVE units protect you. Several of them are blown up by the blast, but you are safe.  
Cursing, he sends his own hive units to charge against you... only for you to quickly turn them against him.

Charge runs up to him and attempts to strike him, but Vitruvian is faster. He jumps in the air and lands to your side. You focus on sending wave after wave of the hive at him… but he just won’t stop. His armor is far stronger than the robots.  
He takes you by the lapels.   
You focus on his mind… on the offense.  
…  
Does he have Shields? What the …?

He sends a fist to your face, but you fall down taking off your jacket and slip between his legs, shooting him twice with your gun. The shots make him stumble, but don’t penetrate his armor. Great.

His wings activate, and you’re in no condition to slip away again from his grasp. He catches your legs which makes you yell in pain as he activates his thrusters and the two of you start flying.   
This really isn't ideal.

Suddenly, he loses his course, flying erratically. Something got him… you look up.  
Ortega is holding onto one his back. Wow, that parkour paid off in the end.  
“Let… go!” Vitruvian curses trying to shake him off. Still, Ortega holds on like a champ. You hold on to his arms too, as he tries to throw you down.

Vitruvian’s flight has gone erratic… you’re about to… Oh no.

You all crash upon the dome's ceiling, falling inside. Luckily, Vitruvian’s armored suit breaks the panel first.   
You attempt a roll as you fall, but still, end up hitting your back against a wall.   
Vitruvian stands quickly and starts operating a few buttons in his suit. A swarm of Hives approach.

You focus, holding them down, and feel his mind. There's no mistaking it, he's using telepathy as well to try to wrestle control from you, that's how he became their queen in the first place. 

“You will not do that again!” he says walking towards you.

“STOP!” you attack his mind once more… his shield cracks momentarily. He stumbles but activates his wrist blaster nonetheless. You’re forced to dodge, as the wall next to you melts down under the heated beam.

Ortega attacks, sending a punch at his gut. Vitruvian curse enraged and begins fighting back at Ortega. He grabs Ortega in a bear hug, his armor clearly granting him enhanced strength. Ricard’s face goes red under the pressure, while he tries to break free.

You strike his mind once more… His shield shatters completely. He loses focus, and Ortega slips away, regaining his breath. Before Vitruvian can recover, your friend sends reeling backward with a kick.

A few Hive units still loyal to him cover the villain, as he stands once more, commanding the nanites this time. They quickly build a long technospear from the ground up, and he takes hold of it, walking forward to kill Ortega right there. 

Charge is engulfed in electrical arcs, frying off the enemy units.

Vitruvian aims his weapons carefully as the hive units fall to the ground, ready to deal the killer blow... and then he screams in frustration as you paralyze him once more, keeping him still.

Ortega’s fist is brutal, sending the villain down, his helmet cracking to pieces. He takes the spear and breaks it on his knee.  
Vitruvian falls on his back, defeated. It's over.  
Ortega walks towards him, to knock him down for good…

And then he is projected backward against a wall.

Wha…

Psychokinesis?

You look at the fallen Vitruvian. He … She. She removes the remains of her shattered helm.

“Elyise?!  
You only feel sadness and rage radiating from her.

“You even sound like him,” she says standing up once more.

“What…?”

“I know what you are Cyrus. I knew when I first met you. You have the same eyes. The same voice. You even like the same fucking candy brands ”

“What… are you talking about…?”

“The government took him away from me… They took everything away from me…” she says as she approaches. “I wanted to hate you so badly, you know?. But then I needed to gain your trust … talk to you… be your friend… and you would even say the same… fucking things… And it was like being with him again!” there are tears on her face. “I should have killed you. You are a thing they made. An insult to his memory! You are filth! Your face… It doesn’t belong to you! You have no right! NO RIGHT!”

You crawl backward. You can sense her hatred of you rising by the second.

“But I was WEAK! You fooled me! You made me think You were HIM! I thought perhaps there was some part in your filthy cloned body that could be the universe returning him to me…”

“Elyise.. please stop… I’m not whoever you think I am…But we are friends. Please…”

“I’m not your friend you creature! I LOVED HIM! All these years looking for him, after my parents broke me out. And then all I find is ... a replica! You took his face … I should have destroyed you when I first saw you!”

She extends her hands, levitating you defenseless in the air. A sharp metal fragment aligns itself with your heart. She’s going to kill you.

“Elyise please… don’t!” you shout.

“I WON’T STOP! I will get revenge on them… on you… on the government and everyone else in my way!! You are an abomination! I’ll end you… and then I’ll fight them with their own fucking weapons and win! I needed you alive to control the nanites… but not anymore!”

FUCK. There's no reasoning with her.  
You have to strike while her shields are down.

You enter her mind. She tries to resist. She wants to kill you. There is no other outcome. She was your friend. But she hates you more than anything. She needs to see you dead, or she will never have peace. They took him away from her and put you in his place.  
That is your sin.  
Existing.

She resists with every fiber of her being. But she is not on your level. She never had your training. She only knows what defenses you thought her.  
Your attack pushes trough…she falls down on her knees…

“AAAAHHHHH” she screams. You can feel her pain. You’re hurting your friend. You can’t… you can’t do this… it’s…not who you want to be.

"Please Elyise! Stop! I don’t want to hurt you!”  
She raises her arm, activating her wrist blaster. Pointing at a glass box on the other side of the room.

“You are not him! You’ll never be! Die you filth!“ She shouts

"No… no! Please don’t do this!”

Her weapon fires, shattering the glass box. THe nanovores spring to life. These haven’t been reprogramed. They being spreading … everywhere…   
WHAT THE HELL DID SHE DO?!  
Ricardo tries to pull her… but it’s too late… they’ve already contacted her body… she is dissolving.. screaming in pain.

You panic… Ricardo takes your arm… tries to lead you outside. The nanovores continue to spread. Everywhere.

The building crumbles.

He runs with you…  
You make it outside.  
You are safe…

And then you notice… the nanovores on his suit. They got to him when he saved Elyise.

He screams, trying to shake them off… They won’t let go…  
You see policemen and soldiers… Hive robots.. all melting, covered in nanites… as they come out from the dome in every direction.  
And your friend. The nanites begin to spread over his body. The black cloud devours all, and it ’s approaching you too.

You see the horror in his gaze. He knows he will die.

No.  
No. You won’t let him die.  
No one else will.

“NO!” you say with all the strength of your mind facing the cloud.

And they listen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fanfiction: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero
> 
> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.


	7. Nanosurge Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ortega and Sidestep decide where they stand after the Nanosurge. Sidestep makes a choice. 
> 
> Hope you like it!

Ricardo seems a bit startled, waking up.  
“Cyrus?” he asks.  
“Yep. That’s me.” You are sitting by the bed. You hate hospitals. Only get inside them for a very good reason. Like being there for your friend.  
“My head is killing me”  
“Yeah, that’s what the painkillers are for” you point at the drip on his arm  
“What… happened?” he asks.

You are startled. Ricardo passed out shortly after the containment crews took out the Nanovores trapped inside the stasis fields. Elyise gave him a head concussion when she projected him away and slammed him into the dome’s outer wall.

“You don’t remember?”  
“Sort of? It’s… very confusing. We were going to attack Vitruvian’s dome… and we were loosing… then you showed up with those HIVE units you took over…”  
“Yeah, they are dismantling them all right now. This is probably the end of HIVE. Bees are happier being bees anyways”.  
“Heh,” he smiles. “I guess you’d know better…”  
“Yep. Bee minds are my specialty now. So do you recall what happened later?”  
“… n… no” he struggles to bring the memories back.  
“Do you remember … Elyise?”  
“Wh.. yeah… I think she was… there?”

“She… she is no longer … with us,” you say.

“Wh.. what? She died!?” His anguish seems genuine. He does not remember… fuck.

Part of you wants him to remember. So you can talk to him. Tell him what happened… explain the things she said about you.

If you do this, you’ll likely trigger his memories coming back.

Or…

“She died… a hero,” you say in the end. And then you are tearing up, trying to keep a straight face. You’ve added yet one more secret to the long list of lies and deception separating you. It hurts so much.

“Mierda… Cyurs… I’m so sorry” he says holding your arm. “I know how close she was to you”

“She was… my closest friend after you” you start. “But… we’ll mourn her later… You have to … recover, ok?” you try to smile.

“Oh you don’t worry about that, I’ll be out of here in no time.”

“How are you? You were in no good shape after the Candynaster’s visit.

"I’m ok… I’ve disinfected everything… changed… the bruises will pass eventually. I’m on painkillers too.”

You actually stole some of Ortega’s. He’s loaded compared to you, he can pay for more. 

“So… how did Elyise die?”

And you tell him… explain the Nanosurge. How you stopped it…

All while pretending Elyise was just another victim of a random villain called Vitruvian. 

………a month later…………………

“Hey, Cyrus.” Ortega finally arrived…

“Hey,” you say, standing up.

He hugs you, patting your back. You hold tightly before he lets go.

“How are you holding?” he asks.

“I’m ok. Better”

“Good to know”

“Shall we?”

“Let’s go!”

You spend the next few hours training through the park. You go more and more competitive, racing each other as usual.

As you run, your mind drifts back to Elyise. It’s all you can think of lately.

She approached you… became your friend. She then lied, cheated and betrayed you. Pretended to have precognition powers to lead you wherever she wished. She had you tortured. She attempted to murder you. On top of that, she hated you from the start.

You should have seen it coming. But you were so concerned about keeping your own secrets safe… so worried that she’d find anything. And you were so arrogant thinking your shields would keep another telepath out of your mind, that you never tried to actually see her for what she was.

But being lied to is not what hurts the most. 

She admitted she genuinely liked once she got to know you, besides it all. You can’t help but wonder, could you have saved her?

Maybe.

If you had managed to get a better friend… talk about things?

And you are still doing this. You are lying to Ricardo right now.

You almost died. Candymaster could have ended you… Ricardo could have been devoured by the nanites.

And you would have never had the chance to speak the truth…

Oh crap.

You are losing your advantage.  
You got distracted and Ricardo took a shortcut…  
You're too tired to outrun him right now… he’s going to catch up and…

“Ooooof!” He tackles you, and you fall down on the grass with him on top.  
“Got you!” he says pinning you down.  
“You cheated!” you accuse.  
“I did not!” he smiles standing up. He offers you a hand to help you stand.  
You take it and move up a bit too fast… coming up against him, your body against his. 

He is surprised. 

You are not.

You kiss him, and he responds as he always does. He embraces you, making you wish it would nonstop.

“Oh… and the answer is yes,” you say as you part.

“What the…” he laughs “What’s up with you? The answer to what?”

“You invited me to dinner if I recall. I never answered.”

“Wow… just… Now you decided to remember that?”

“Well if you have other plans…” you start.

“No no… I’m taking this. I know a place near the port that's got great steak”

“Hm.. can it be in your place tomorrow night? We can get take-away”

“Huh? Well.. sure we can do that.”

“I want to talk to you about a… a lot of things. And It could take a while” you say gathering all of your strength. 

“Oh…” He must have realized how hard this is by the look in your face. “Ok then! Tomorrow night, my place.”

“It’s a date then. See you tomorrow” you say walking off.

The blushed and perplexed look on his face was just priceless.

You hope you can live up to your promise… It will be a LOT of lies to untangle tomorrow.

A man is hearing the radio as you pass. You pay little attention to the broadcast as you head home.

“And there is another suicide confirmed just a few minutes from now… This takes the total toll to 9 suicides on The northern district, causes are still unknown, but investigators think they are related and….”

Your life will change tomorrow, you think with a smile as you take your bus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Fanfiction: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

**Author's Note:**

> My Fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero
> 
> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.


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